Salisbury Cathedral displays the magnificent skills of medieval artists and craftsmen.
Best
Anne
Sunday, 20 November 2011
Saturday, 12 November 2011
Walking in Wiltshire: Avebury Stone Circle
Avebury Stone Circle lies in the Kennet Valley, Wiltshire, at the south-west end of the Ridgeway, one of England's National Walking Trails.
Avebury is at the centre of one of the greatest surviving concentrations of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in Western Europe. It is truly a very special and, for many, a mystical and sacred place.
The Outer Ring of the Stone Circle
The Cove Stones
The Ancient and the Medieval
Sweet music at the Wishing Trees
Wishing Tree shelter
with the bank and ditch of the henge in the background
Stone hugging at West Kennet Avenue
A sarsen stone on West Kennet Avenue
Lichens at home on the stones
*** COMING SOON ***
The RIDGEWAY NATIONAL TRAIL
and STONE CIRCLES (Stonehenge and Avebury)
Self-guided and Guided Walking Tours
Contact us for more information.
Best
Anne
Monday, 7 November 2011
Walking in Wiltshire: Savernake Forest
Savernake Forest near Marlborough, Wiltshire, offers 4500 acres of magnificent native trees, both young and old. Many are very old, and at around 1000 years old, the Big Bellied Oak claims to be one of the oldest in England - a young sapling around the time of the Battle of Hastings, it now it stands with an impressive 11m girth. In fact, it got so big, that in 2002, a corset was fitted to stop it splitting in half.
The Big Bellied Oak
Legend tells that the devil will appear at midnight to anyone dancing naked around the Big Belly Oak, 12 times anticlockwise.
Tall beeches planted beside forest roads
Criss-crossed by tracks and avenues, this privately owned forest, managed by the Forestry Commission, is freely accessible to walkers although there are no public rights of way. The area is large enough for long walks of up to 10 miles.
A bronze, autumnal beech along a grassy track
The forest was first recorded in Saxon Charters in 934AD, and following the Norman Conquest in 1066 it passed into the care of the Norman Knight, Richard Esturmy. It was passed down through his family for 31 generations and for over 1000 years.
One of the many ancient oaks
Henry VIII hunted there and, soon after the execution of Anne Boleyn, he was so impressed by the steward’s daughter, that he married her. Sadly, Jane Seymour, his only wife to give him a son, died in childbirth.
Bracken adorns the forest floor
In the mid-18th century the area of forest reached 40,000 acres, ten times bigger than it is now. The head of the family at the time had risen in status to become Governor to King George IV, and employed the famous landscape designer, Capability Brown, to plant the beech avenues that run through the heart of the Forest. These include the Grand Avenue which, at 3.9 miles, is the longest tree lined avenue in Britain.
Contact us if you are interested in walking through this fantastic forest, full of history, folklore and wildlife.
Best
Anne
walkthelandscape.co.uk
Friday, 28 October 2011
Walking in Wiltshire: Stonehenge
Awesome Stonehenge
The Cursus Barrows
Gnarled Beech
The New King barrows
Approaching Stonehenge from the Avenue
Best
Anne
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Brilliant Autumn Colours at last!
At last, brilliant autumn colours - even in a supermarket car park!
Best
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Hints of Autumn
This year we are still enjoying warm summer weather - autumn has been postponed with just the odd hint of rich colour here and there.
Village streets scattered with golden horse-chestnut leaves
Oak leaves turning in Ditchley Park
Dark clouds over the Queen's Pool, Blenheim Park
Best
Anne
Walk the Landscape - guided and self-guided walks in the Cotswolds and the Heart of England
Friday, 2 September 2011
Ugly ducklings and Mallard babes on the Oxford Canal
A family of mute swans
The juveniles are almost full grown but still with the brownish-grey feathers.
They will gradually become whiter and will leave their parents territory in a few weeks time.
This mallard mum's certainly got her 'feet' full with such a large large brood
It's unusual to see such young ducklings at this time of year - and usually happens when the first clutch is destroyed.
Best
Anne
WalkTheLandscape.co.uk
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